El Al, American to share codes

The agreement announced Tuesday will reduce fares for North American travelers in 25 cities.

Flight transfers also will be smoother, Yoav Weiss, the Israeli airline’s deputy chief executive for marketing in North and Central America, told JTA.

In terms of ticketing and boarding, “The passenger sees only one airline in front of him – this is El Al,” Weiss said, a process that will facilitate luggage check-in and plane changing.

The first cities to benefit from the code sharing, starting Sept. 2, are Boston, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Toronto, Miami, San Francisco and Washington.

Round trips at the launch will cost $1,471 from Boston and Washington, $1,591 from Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami and Toronto, and $1,711 from San Francisco.

The code sharing also will allow passengers to break up flights to or from Israel in European capitals. It will be in addition to the direct flights El Al already runs from Los Angeles, Toronto and New York.